Every one of the home nations will tour New Zealand during that time with the exception of the Scots which comes hot on the heels of a similar move by the South African Rugby Union.

Scotland haven’t faced the All Blacks on their own patch on a tour since 2000 and it is also a snub to the IRB, who last week revealed a ten-year schedule for the leading nations to welcome tourists from down the rankings.

Scotland will play a one-off Test in six years' time but that will only be as a warm-up for Wales’ trip to the Land of the Long White Cloud.

But the SRU insist they are happy with the schedule and a spokesman said: “It’s important to have a schedule that is equitable across the board.

“We’re happy with the schedule as it stands between 2012 and 2019. We have some very exciting fixtures against southern hemisphere teams and tier two teams, which is great news for our supporters, players and coaches.

“There are still some issues to be clarified and we will look to announce the full schedule in the coming weeks.”